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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Shorebird Sunday

I was able to squeeze in a few bird shots by slipping away from the Bear induced commotion during our visit to Hagen's Cove. The abundant beachhoppers that I showed you in an earlier post were a powerful draw for the hordes of hungry shortleggers.I believe I have a sanderling and two short-billed dowitchers, but I am open for correction by you professional birdwatchin' types.If you are like me and wonder how a bird with a bill that long gets a label like "short-billed", you should know that it is short when compared to the "long-billed dowitcher"

It's all relative and it may even be moot, if I have misidentified these birds.Whoever they are, their choice of cryptic coloration is excellent as they only have to hold still to disappear against the brown detrital seagrass wrack.

At the time I took the pics, I had not ventured up onto the mucky detrital shoreline, so I didn't really know what they were nipping up out of the dead seagrass, but it had to be the abundant beachhoppers and perhaps some of the small fiddlers that were burrowing through the grass.

Sparkling sanderling.

Opposing views.

This day was a play day with the dog and I count myself pretty lucky to squeeze in some unexpected bird shots. The bird photo potential at the Cove, alone in my kayak, this winter, with a multitude of migrants using the surrounding marshes, leaves me drooling with anticipation.

Sorry about that drool thing.

Hey birders, please chime in with ID opinions, I'm open to correction or validation.